Articles

Many advisors when discussing long-term care insurance will get the push back from clients of, “I plan to go on Medicaid”. While that seems like a good money saving option while clients are healthy and working it could be a decision that clients may later regret. Many states are looking at cutting Medicaid all together because of the cost and budgetary constraints. “One-third of elderly Medicaid enrollees used long-term care services, but they accounted for 86 percent of all Medicaid spending on the elderly” (Sadler,...

Do your clients offer HSAs to their employees? If so, the IRS considers tax-qualified LTCI premiums a qualified medical expense That means that an individual (W2 employee) may withdraw money tax-free from their HSA to pay for standalone LTC Insurance. To learn more vist these resources: Resource #1 – Using HSA to pay for LTCi premium (Genworth) Resource #2 – Using HSA to pay for LTCi premium...

The sandwich generation currently has increasing responsibilities at home which could be a cause for a decrease in productivity at the workplace. In fact, according to a 2013 research study conducted by Pew Research, they found that “Nearly half (47%) of adults in their 40s and 50s have a parent age 65 or older and are either raising a young child or financially supporting a grown child (age 18 or older)” (Pew Research 2013). This sandwich generation is currently working and because of their unique situation they understand the...

In a column in the Fort Worth Star Telegram (9/16), Teresa Mcusic writes Texas “is having a tough time” on enrolling people in its three year old “long-term care insurance partnership program that help buyers protect assets if they need to apply for Medicaid,” with only 10,443 partnership policies sold through the end of last year. “Texans are not generally buying policies with this benefit in mind.” At issue can be the premium costs, which “aren’t cheap,” or “finding coverage”...

Politico (9/16, Kenen) says, “A new report adds fresh details to the conventional wisdom that a new long-term care insurance program is fiscally out of whack — but there’s also widespread agreement among experts that there are lots of ways to try to fix it.” The data, released by congressional Republicans, “lambasted” the Community Living Assistance Support and Stability (CLASS) “program as a boondoggle that Democrats rammed through Congress during health reform while knowing full well it would be a...